Social Media, The Selfie, and Plastic Surgery

The “Selfie” has become all the rage in the past few years especially with popular social media platform Apps like Instagram and SnapChat. What may have started as a popular social media trend among teens has now become socially acceptable for people of all ages. Our society has somewhat become obsessed with it particularly with celebrities posting the perfect selfie in their social media accounts. Furthermore, the selfie stick is now a staple in many households.

Social media not only connects us more with everyday life but it somehow makes us more aware of our looks. The AAFPRS reported that patients are more aware of their appearance because of social media and it has heightened their self-awareness which has prompted an increase in request for procedures.

I have seen this more in my practice as patients discussed recent photos of themselves and how dissatisfied they were with how they looked in the photos. In the past year, we have seen more inquires. My patients have brought in photos of their selfies taken with their smartphones to share their concerns with me. I find this to be a very valuable tool.

These common social media platforms which are solely image-based are very popular which may be the driving force behind this trend. In our office, our nurse injector Maureen has seen a significant increase in people of all ages wanting to take away an objectionable look they see in photos with certain facial expressions. Neuromodulators such as Botox and Dysport continue to increase in popularity as do the fillers such as Juvederm, Restylane, and Voluma.

More than ever before, we somehow have become more critical of how we see ourselves. Ultimately, we all want to put our best face forward not only in everyday life but also in the social media sphere.

As with any age, we all want to look and feel our best, but social media is making us more aware of it. Fortunately, we have many ways we can help and many of them don’t involve surgery and many of the plastic surgery procedures we offer are minimally invasive. With ALL of our treatments we emphasize an artistic approach to a natural appearance. We want our patients to look great but not have anyone suspect they had any work done.